Newsweek

Fact Check: Did Pfizer Claim COVID Vaccine Was 95% Effective?

The UK pharma watchdog has accused Pfizer of damaging the industry's reputation by promoting an unlicensed COVID vaccine on X, breaching regulatory codes.

The Telegraph

A UK watchdog has accused Pfizer of damaging the pharmaceutical industry's reputation by promoting an unlicensed COVID vaccine on X, breaching regulatory codes.

GB News

A UK watchdog has accused Pfizer of damaging the pharmaceutical industry's reputation by promoting an unlicensed COVID vaccine on X, formerly Twitter, breaching regulatory codes.

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PCMPA) was referring to a November 2020 tweet by a Pfizer US official on what was then Twitter.

Fierce Pharma

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority was referring to a November 2020 tweet by a US-based Pfizer official on what was then Twitter.

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority was referring to a Nov. 2020 tweet by a US-based Pfizer official on what was then Twitter.

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority was referring to a Nov. 2020 tweet by a US-based Pfizer official when the platform was still called Twitter.

The tweet claimed Pfizer's vaccine candidate was 95% effective against Covid-19. A senior UK employee, along with four other staffers, then retweeted it.

The tweet, which claimed Pfizer's vaccine candidate was "95% effective in preventing COVID-19," was retweeted by one of its senior UK-based employees and four other UK staffers.

The PMCPA ruled in March that the tweet's claim “misleadingly and illegally" promoted the product. The firm termed it “accidental and unintentional.”

Last month, the PMCPA ruled that the drugmaker misused social media to "misleadingly and illegally" promote its vaccine. However, the firm termed the tweet "accidental and unintentional."

Last month, the Authority ruled that the drugmaker misused social media to "misleadingly and illegally" promote its vaccine. However, the firm termed the tweet "accidental and unintentional."

Last month, the Authority ruled that the drugmaker misused social media to "misleadingly and illegally" advertise its vaccine. However, the firm termed the tweet "accidental and unintentional."

In October 2022, a European Parliament member had reported Pfizer saying the vaccine was never tested to prevent transmission before entering the market.

The Associated Press

In October 2022, Pfizer admitted that it hadn't tested its COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person before its market release.

In Oct. 2022, Pfizer admitted that it hadn't tested its COVID vaccine's efficacy to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person before its market release.

However, Pfizer later clarified that its clinical trial never covered transmission. It was designed only to evaluate the vaccine's efficacy in disease prevention.

However, Pfizer later clarified that the vaccine's clinical trial was never intended to cover its impact on transmission. It was designed only to evaluate the vaccine's efficacy in preventing disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

However, Pfizer later clarified that the vaccine's clinical trial was never intended to cover its impact on transmission. It was designed only to evaluate the vaccine's efficacy in preventing disease caused by the COVID virus.

Newsweek #7772

The Telegraph #

GB News #

Fierce Pharma #

The Associated Press #

It's easy to haul up Pfizer for stray mistakes years after things turned normal post-COVID. The company, which once swiftly produced a COVID vaccine and achieved record-breaking sales to pull the world back from the brink, now faces a downturn. This only highlights the unpredictable and thankless nature of the system.

Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal #

Pfizer Helped Save the World With Covid Vaccines. Now It Needs to Right Itself.

Pfizer clearly played along with attempts to exaggerate its COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy, violating consumer protection laws. It may deny the claims, but there's no escaping responsibility when its own senior executives spread such disinformation on social media, and that, too, at a crucial moment during the pandemic. The world's courts must take the company to task.

Guardian

Guardian #2340

Texas lawsuit claims Pfizer exaggerated effectiveness of Covid vaccine

There's a 50% chance that per the median of the first three published peer-reviewed studies, the vaccine effectiveness of three doses of Pfizer against hospitalization caused by Omicron will be at least 88.5%, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Metaculus2

3-dose Pfizer VE vs. Omicron hospitalization

**Getty**

UK: Pfizer Accused of Promoting 'Unlicensed' COVID Vaccine

COVID-19

Medicine & healthcare

United Kingdom

Pharmaceuticals

It's all too easy to accuse Pfizer of occasional mistakes years after things turned normal post-COVID. The company, which once swiftly produced a COVID vaccine and achieved record-breaking sales to pull the world back from the brink of a pandemic catastrophe, now faces a natural market downturn. This only highlights the unpredictable and thankless nature of the health industry.

Pfizer clearly played along with attempts to exaggerate its COVID vaccine's efficacy, violating consumer protection laws. It may deny the claims, but there's no escaping responsibility when its own senior executives spread such disinformation on social media — especially at a crucial moment during the pandemic. The world's courts must take the company to task.

UK: Pfizer Accused of Promoting 'Unlicensed' COVID Vaccine

UK: Pfizer Accused of Promoting 'Unlicensed' COVID Vaccine

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UK: Pfizer Accused of Promoting 'Unlicensed' COVID Vaccine

UK: Pfizer Accused of Promoting 'Unlicensed' COVID Vaccine

The Spin

Metaculus Prediction

Articles on this story

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